Chinese Eggplant Recipes

This eggplant side dish is very easy to prepare. It's perfect if you want to cook Asian food for a vegetarian crowd. I sautéed Japanese eggplants in a hoisin sauce-based mixture for its caramel color and subtle sweetness. To this, I added several crunchy ingredients such as shredded bamboo and black fungus mushrooms (called nấm mèo in Vietnamese) to balance the soft texture of the eggplant.

It's important to add spiciness to the dish as the eggplant can be a little bland. I added sliced jalapenos, grated ginger and store-bought chile garlic sauce. The result is a combination of sweet, garlicky, spicy and savory.

Even though eggplants are available all year-round, they reach their peak during the summer. I was at the store today, and the skin looked very shiny and pretty on the Japanese eggplants, so I picked up several. I made Indian eggplant dip, but since I still had a few leftover, I decided to have some fun with them. Since these were Japanese eggplants, I made an Asian salad flavored with lemongrass and Thai basil.

First, I salted the eggplants to extract moisture from the vegetables and reduce their bitterness. A quick trip to the grill, and the eggplants were ready to eat. To give the salad dressing an Asian twist, I used lemongrass, sugar cane vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and wasabi for a little heat. I added some crunch to the salad with crushed peanuts. How easy it that?

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